Charles Hecker has spent 40 years travelling and working in the Soviet Union and Russia. He has worked as a journalist at The Miami Herald and The Moscow Times, and as a geopolitical risk consultant at Control Risks, where he was a partner in the firm until recently. While at Control Risks, Charles helped dozens of leading, international companies invest safely in Russia and manage the dynamic array of risks the country presented as it developed as a market. From 2000 to 2008, he was the managing partner of Control Risks' Moscow office. He is a regular contributor to Monocle Radio and has offered expert commentary on Times Radio, CNN, the BBC, CNBC and Bloomberg TV, among others. Charles’ book, Zero Sum: The Arc of International Business in Russia, discusses the past 30 years of foreign investment in Russia. Photograph: Larissa Kouznetsova